Reaching Out
by ChocolateFrogCard
Summary: Written for missus brokkenbroll's Be Happy challenge on HPFC. Prompt was Gabrielle Delacour learning to reach out. Gabrielle Delacour/Dennis Creevey.


Gabrielle Delacour liked to cook, and she liked to think when she cooked. On that particular day, when she was chopping vegetables and beef for that day's stew, she was contemplating loneliness.

She wasn't ever really alone, but she always felt lonely. It was funny that way; the more people that surrounded her, the more detached she felt. Everyone seemed to be happy with each other- except her. Her parents had just celebrated yet another wedding anniversary, bringing the grand total up to thirty-five. Her sister was married to Bill Weasley, which automatically entered her into that enormous, loving, caring family of twenty-five. All her old friends from Beauxbatons were married and happy and had kids and were living perfect lives. Just like she used to have.

But she hadn't even changed much since those Beauxbatons days- and she supposed that was the problem. When she was just a little schoolgirl, all she had to do was be funny and sweet and cute and everyone loved her and thought she was perfect. Now, it wasn't enough to just be happy. Now she needed a husband, a family. She wanted a family, a big one just like Fleur's. She was jealous of Fleur, not in a mean or spiteful way, just that Fleur's life seemed so perfect and hers wasn't really going anywhere, and she knew that she could never truly be happy while that emptiness was still inside her.

She had tried, honestly she had. She'd gone on blind dates, to clubs, bars, coffee shops, restaurants. She'd put in a great deal of effort, and everyone who saw her said she was absolutely perfect. But somehow, nothing ever worked out for her. She couldn't even figure out what it was that was wrong with her. Some people said that she was too high-maintenance, or that she was 'too good for them', although she saw that as a ridiculous excuse.

But whatever the reason was, she was unfortunately still single. And no guy she met in a club or a bar was ever right for her. So she spent her time doing random odd jobs, just because she needed something to fill her days with. Today, she'd promised Fleur's brother-in-law George that she'd come help with accounting at his shop, because she had always had a knack for Arithmancy and had even started to pursue a career at Gringotts, like her sister, but had ended up leaving to take a year abroad in France and then had had to take care of her father, who had suffered a brief spell of illness.

She finished cooking and then entered the living room, left a note to Fleur telling her she was leaving, grabbed a handful of Floo powder, and was sitting in George and Angelina's living room ten seconds later. The adults were nowhere in sight, but she found the twin toddlers, Fred and Roxanne, playing in the towel-filled laundry basket. She chuckled and went over to them, tickling Roxanne gently and scooping Fred into her arms. She'd always had a thing for little kids; she loved babysitting.

Angelina appeared in the living room, grinning at her. Gabrielle, slightly startled by her sudden arrival, deposited the twins back in their laundry basket and went over to her, hugging her. It was hard to keep track of exactly how she was related to Angelina- Angie was her sister's husband's brother's wife; so would that make her Gabrielle's brother in law's sister in law?- but the two girls got on rather well, and Gabrielle genuinely liked Angelina.

"Hi, Angelina."

"Hey, Gabrielle. You ready? George will be out in a minute- oh, there he is," she said, chuckling at her husband, who suddenly appeared next to her, fumbling with his tie. "Here, let me help," she said, rolling her eyes at Gabrielle, who laughed. "Men," Angelina mouthed. She fiddled with George's tie and then sent him over to Gabrielle.

"Ready, Gabs?"

"Yeah, let's go," she said, and they Apparated over to the store.

"Thanks for the help, by the way," said George, grinning at her. "Ever since Ron left, I've been really busy- not that he was much of a help with crunching numbers, anyway."

She chuckled, disappearing into the back of the store where George kept his accounting books. For the next four hours, she worked, occasionally running down to Gringotts or over to the coffee shop on the next block, but mostly she stayed in the back room.

By two o'clock, she was mostly done, but she had to run a few numbers by George first before she finalized everything. She rose from her cramped position in front of her desk, yawned and stretched a little, and emerged back into the front room, where George was talking to someone in a corner of the store.

She made her way over to them, deciding to wait until their conversation was over. She stood a little ways over from the pair, holding her accounting book tightly to her chest.

George spotted her in a few minutes. "Hi, Gabrielle. All done?"

She nodded.

"Brilliant, thank you so much. Oh, Gabrielle, this is my friend Dennis Creevey. Dennis, this is Gabrielle Delacour, she's Fleur's sister."

Dennis grinned at her. "Oh, hello! I think I remember you from the Triwizard Tournament, right? You were in the lake?"

She nodded and blushed slightly. She'd been so little that day; it was hard to believe anyone could still remember it.

The name Dennis Creevey rang a bell. Gabrielle cocked her head. "Didn't you have a brother? Colin?"

Dennis's face clouded. "Yeah, he was my brother."

Gabrielle noticed the past tense. Seeing the look on her face, he continued. "He died in the Battle of Hogwarts." There was a catch in his throat.

Gabrielle felt a sudden, genuine rush of sympathy for Dennis. She hadn't lost any siblings in the war, but Fred had gone, and she had been deeply distraught afterwards. He had been the brother that she never had. And she knew how much Dennis would still be hurting, even after ten years.

"I'm sorry. How've you been? I know it's hard."

"I'm doing all right, I guess. Everything's rather dull without him around. I can talk about it now, though, so that's better."

"It really is. Talking is always good."

He grinned at her. "Well, would you like to talk some more? Maybe grab an ice cream or something? I run the parlor now; I replaced Fortescue ever since he retired ten years ago. The stress of being captured got to him, I suppose, decided he couldn't run the place anymore. Can't blame him. So now it's mine. You like ice cream?"

She smiled brilliantly. "I love it. Peanut butter chocolate fudge with almonds," she recited.

"Oh, that's delicious. I've always been more of a coffee and chocolate chip person, though."

"Well, why don't we go now, and we can debate it while we're eating."

He chuckled. "Come on, then." He stuck out his hand, and she took it.

"Wait, I still have George's accounting books!"

George appeared by their side at the mention of his name, looking upon their held hands with amusement. "Having fun, there, I see! You can go, Gabrielle, I'll finish up. Thanks for the help!"

She smiled and nodded, handing him the books and exiting the shop with Dennis.

They made their way over to the ice cream store, which was still called Fortescue's but bore a placard reading "Run by Dennis Creevey." Gabrielle couldn't believe she hadn't recognized the name before; how many times had she taken her extended nieces and nephews here?

He grabbed two bowls from behind the counter and scooped a generous helping into each one. "You like toppings?"

"Oh, d'you have chocolate sprinkles? Not very original, I know, but it's my favorite."

He smiled at her. "Of course. Mine too." Finally, he slid one bowl in front of her, stuck a spoon in it, and hopped onto the seat next to her. "Dig in."

They chatted idly, their topics ranging from their Hogwarts days to Gringotts vaults to Quidditch. After they finished their ice cream, though, their conversation turned serious. They began to reminisce of the war, of the lives lost, of the children that had been born since then. Gabrielle hadn't really had a conversation like this before; everyone usually left her out of the emotional discussions. She hadn't even been around that many war survivors so far, so she didn't quite know what to say. Her world had always been her and her alone, and she was really quite blind to the turmoil of others. But she truly thought she cared about Dennis, and she wanted him to be happy. So maybe, just maybe, she could try reaching out to him. It would be new for her, but it was worth a try.

"Would it be better if you talked about Colin? I know it helps, for me, anyway."

"Yeah, actually. I kind of hid from it for a while, after the war, I spent a few years doing some Ministry work overseas in Germany and then by the time I came back, everyone was sort of done talking about it," he admitted.

"I see. Well, you can always talk to me, if you want. I'll listen."

He shot her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Gabrielle."

She smiled back at him. "Call me Elle."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Elle, are you going somewhere?"

Gabrielle, preoccupied with buttoning her coat, glanced at her sister confusedly. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm going for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron with Dennis."

Fleur raised an eyebrow. "Dennis? Again? You two have been hanging out a lot lately. Is anything going on?"

Gabrielle blushed, feeling like a fourteen-year-old again. "Fleur, I told you, we've just been talking so far. He says I've really been helping him, dealing with the war and everything. I just want to be there for him."

Fleur brushed past her, grabbing a few ingredients from the kitchen. Gabrielle was visiting her sister's house for a few quiet moments while Fleur's kids were at the zoo with the rest of the Weasley clan. "If you say so, Elle. I personally think he's rather taken with you."

Gabrielle looked embarrassed. "Whatever, Fleur. Lock the door, please?" She left, brushing by her sister with her face hidden so they wouldn't see her blush.

She reached the Leaky Cauldron, looking around for Dennis.

"Boo," he said quietly, tickling her from behind.

"Dennis!" she shrieked with delight, and then reddened, trying to regain her composure. "Hi! I got us butterbeers already, with ginger, because I know it's your favorite."

"Oh, thanks, so much, Elle. Happy birthday, by the way! I got you a present," he said, grinning.

"Oh, Dennis, you don't have to-"

"Don't be ridiculous, you got me that marvelous watch for my birthday. And I owe you. For everything you've done for me."  
>"No, you've helped me a lot too," she said honestly. She always felt freer when she was talking to Dennis, because he really respected her and cared about what she said. He never judged her or told her she was silly or passed her comments off as ridiculous. He made her feel special, important.<p>

"Hey, Gabrielle? Here's your present." She turned around, and he handed her a card. She opened it and a silver bracelet fell out, magically wrapping itself around her wrist.

"Oh, it's beautiful! Thank you so much!"

"There's more," he said, crossing his fingers behind his back. "Read the card."

She examined the card, which was cream with silver letters. As she watched, however, the letters spelling Happy Birthday Gabrielle began to morph and rearrange themselves.

The card now read "I love you, Gabrielle."

She gasped. "Dennis!"

He grinned. "Elle, you've made me see a whole new side of life. And no matter how sappy it sounds, I really like you. So maybe we could be more than friends?"

She laughed. He reminded her of the excited boys from her Beauxbatons days. She liked that- his youthful energy, the way he was always smiling.

"Of course, Dennis. How could I not want to?"

He was positively beaming. "That's great. So, um, you busy Saturday night?"

She smiled. "Nope."

"Brilliant. Then, um, you up for a Weird Sisters concert? It'll be just like when we were kids and they were in their prime."

"Oh, that sounds amazing! I'd love to."

"Awesome. Then it's settled, I'll see you Saturday?"

"Yeah. Definitely."

"I love you, Gabrielle."

"I love you, Dennis."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Finally, Gabrielle Delacour felt truly happy. She had someone to talk to her, to cheer her up, to love her. She didn't have that empty hole in her heart anymore- in fact, ever since she met Dennis, she felt like she was overflowing with happiness. She marveled at what the simple act of reaching out to someone who was grieving had accomplished. And when Dennis asked her to become Gabrielle Creevey a few years later, and when their children arrived a few more years after that, she knew that she couldn't possibly be happier. Gabrielle swore to herself that whenever she met a friend who looked a little down, she would try to help them as much as she could. Because it was good for the whole world. And really, everyone could always use a little more happiness.

**A/N: Definitely not my best writing. But I kind of like the pairing Gabrielle/Dennis, so I might come back and fix it up later.**


End file.
